The N170 event-related potential reflects delayed neural response to faces when visual attention is directed to the eyes in youths with ASD.
Forcing eye contact does not normalize the delayed face-response brain wave in youth with ASD.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers asked teens with and without autism to look at faces while wearing an EEG cap. A cue told them to focus on the eyes. The team measured the N170, a brain wave that pops when we see faces. They wanted to know if forcing eye gaze would fix the slow brain response seen in ASD.
What they found
Even when kids with autism looked right at the eyes, their N170 still arrived late. The delay was biggest on eye-focused trials. Typical teens showed no such lag. The slow brain mark is real, not just a side effect of looking away.
How this fits with other research
Goulardins et al. (2013) first linked gaze and face ERPs in ASD teens. Their data set the stage for this tighter test.
Akechi et al. (2014) used a quick-flash trick and also found no hidden eye-contact boost in ASD. Together, the two studies show the lack of eye priority happens both early and unconscious.
Schaaf et al. (2015) used the same N170 marker but asked about boys versus girls. They showed dampened face waves in girls with ASD. The new paper keeps that marker and adds: where you aim the eyes does not erase the delay.
Why it matters
You can make a client look at eyes and still not fix the slow brain response. Use N170 as an objective check when social skills programs stall. Pair eye-contact drills with other supports, like emotion labeling or video modeling, instead of hoping gaze alone will rewire face circuits.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Atypical neural response to faces is thought to contribute to social deficits in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Compared to typically developing (TD) controls, individuals with ASD exhibit delayed brain responses to upright faces at a face-sensitive event-related potential (ERP), the N170. Given observed differences in patterns of visual attention to faces, it is not known whether slowed neural processing may simply reflect atypical looking to faces. The present study manipulated visual attention to facial features to examine whether directed attention to the eyes normalizes N170 latency in ASD. ERPs were recorded in 30 children and adolescents with ASD as well as 26 TD children and adolescents. Results replicated prior findings of shorter N170 latency to the eye region of the face in TD individuals. In contrast, those with ASD did not demonstrate modulation of N170 latency by point of regard to the face. Group differences in latency were most pronounced when attention was directed to the eyes. Results suggest that well-replicated findings of N170 delays in ASD do not simply reflect atypical patterns of visual engagement with experimental stimuli. These findings add to a body of evidence indicating that N170 delays are a promising marker of atypical neural response to social information in ASD. LAY SUMMARY: This study looks at how children's and adolescents' brains respond when looking at different parts of a face. Typically developing children and adolescents processed eyes faster than other parts of the face, whereas this pattern was not seen in ASD. Children and adolescents with ASD processed eyes more slowly than typically developing children. These findings suggest that observed inefficiencies in face processing in ASD are not simply reflective of failure to attend to the eyes.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2021 · doi:10.1002/aur.2505